Gettysburg Day Two – Turns 1-4

I had a suspicion when I set up the terrain for this game that it was going to be an excellent scenario and I certainly wasn’t disappointed with our first playing session this week. The terrain on the Union left is quite dense with the Peach Orchard, Wheatfield, Trostle House, Devil’s Den and the Round Tops all packed into an area just three foot square. The rest of the table stretching away towards Gettysburg is more open and dominated by Seminary and Cemetery ridges, all of these features count as Victory Point locations in the game.

General view of the battlefield looking north from Devil's Den towards Cemetery Ridge on the horizon.

Sickles exposed line at the Peach Orchard. DeTrobiand's Brigade is in the foreground, Humphrey's Division is beyond the Peach Orchard. The white building to the left is the Sherfly House.

To win Dave needs to push Hood and McLaws forward rapidly and take as many of the VP locations on my left as possible before Union reinforcements start to arrive. Next he has to decide whether to try to take Cemetery Ridge with Anderson’s Division or bring him across to support Longstreet – the player with the most VP’s at 8.00pm (turn 16) will win if neither side breaks first!

Hood's initial deployment on the extreme right of the Confederate line.

There was very little I could do for the first couple of turns except watch nervously as Longstreet’s Corps advanced rapidly towards Birney’s strung out division on my extreme left. I attempted to close up the line but a couple of failed Command dice rolls put paid to that idea.

Hood closes in on Devil's Den and the solitary Union battery that is defending it.

The view from behind Hood's lines. The Rose House is centre left and the Wheatfield is centre right.

I was relieved however to see the advance guard of V Corps arriving on the Millerstown Road near Little Round Top and soon after them Hancock's II Corps put in an appearance on the Taneytown Road, although both had a lot of ground to cover before they could come to the aid of Sickle’s men.

Hancok leads II Corps south along the Taneytown Road - they have a long way to go to reach the scene of the action!

In the Peach Orchard my three artillery batteries were blazing away at McLaws Division as they closed up to the Sherfly House and prepared to assault. Barksdale’s Brigade in the lead were taking heavy casualties but they continued to move forward and (with a “6” rolled for morale) succeeded in assaulting and breaking the gun line. At the same moment Wofford engaged with DeTrobriand who, worn down by Rebel artillery and skirmisher fire, also broke and ran leaving the Union left wide open.

There can't be many peaches left on those trees! Barksdale (by the Sherfly House) and Wofford (foreground) engage Birney's Division who start to melt away.

Meanwhile Hood’s Division had pressed forward right up to the Wheatfield and Devil’s Den where the sole defenders were Ward’s Brigade and a battery of 12pdrs. The guns in Devil’s Den continued firing defiantly as the sea of grey closed around them but the situation was desperate despite the fact that reinforcements were now in sight.

Looking east from behind the Confederate lines. In the distance you can see Union reinforcements from V Corps deploying on to Little Round Top. Meanwhile Rebel artillery is in action in the Wheatfield.

Hood's heavy skirmish line engulfs the lone battery of 12pdrs in the "Devil's Ornamental Garden" (so called because we didn't feel that a few bits of gravel and lichen gave quite the dramatic effect we had hoped for!).

During all this excitement on the left very little was happening over on my right flank. This was because the scenario rules prevented Gibbon from firing upon Anderson unless he was directly threatened. However, this didn’t stop Anderson’s guns from pounding away at Humphrey’s Division in front of the Trostle House and soon Carr’s Brigade was added to the list of broken Union Brigades.

Anderson's Grand Battery plays on Humphrey's Division at the Trostle House (out of shot to the right) whilst Gibbon looks helplessly on from Cemetery Ridge.

So, at the end of turn 4 I have two broken infantry brigades (2 DM points) and three broken artillery batteries (1.5 DM points) giving a total demoralisation score of 3.5. Break point for my army is 5 points and if the Rebs are able to take the Peach Orchard, Wheatfield and Devil’s Den before any of my men can rally, it will be game over!

Gettysburg Day Two - Scenario

We are planning this 6mm refight with historical OOB’s, timescale and deployments, and it promises to be a very different affair to the two day slugging match of Chancellorsville, our last game ! The scenario will be balanced on a knife edge, and the outcome will probably by determined by what happens in the first  3 or 4 turns. If the Confederates get the upper hand quickly then Sickles' Corps may collapse like a pack of cards – but if even a couple of his brigades can offer serious resistance then the flow of Union reinforcements should turn the tide in their favour.

Ian has 21 brigades available from three different corps ( most starting off table), and I have only 13. To create game balance Union brigades are 7 strength points against 9 strength points for the Confederates, who also begin the game  with strong skirmish lines (skirmishers usually have to be ‘bought’ with strength points in our rules). All the famous geographical locations are VP sites that affect Union army demoralisation while held by the Confederates.

Anderson’s division on Seminary Ridge will be fixed in position for a random amount of time to simulate Anderson’s late involvement in the days events. Opposite him on Cemetery Ridge Gibbon’s Union division will be similarly fixed until attacked. Union reinforcements will arrive at the numbered entry points.

Click on map to enlarge.

Gettysburg Day Two - Map

This is the plan of the table layout for our next American Civil War game. The game will be based on the second day at Gettysburg and will feature Longstreet's attack on the Round Tops. Dave will play Longstreet and I'll be playing the various Union defenders, should be a good one!

Click on the image for a closer look.

20mm Napoleonic Game (turns 3-5)

We played our second and final session of the game this week. This is how it went:

The Swedes ascend the ridge only to be greeted by musket fire from the Austrian Gabriel Spleny regiment.

French voltigeurs press forward and slowly take a toll on the Austrian gunners.

In the centre of the field the French light cavalry are pursued by the Union brigade...

...and go crashing back through the 9th Polish regiment who promptly take to their heels - it's their first battle too!

The Swedes try to charge home but fail their morale checks and stop short of the Austrian line.

The French have a little more luck on the opposite flank where some brisk musketry thins the ranks of the advancing Russian and Nassau grenadiers.

Lord Hill leads the Guards forward to complete Wellingtons victory as the Swedes turn and run towards the rear.

At the end of turn five the game was declared a victory for the Allies as three of the French units had routed and no victory locations had changed hands. Perhaps not the best game we’ve played this year but as a rule play-test it was invaluable.

Our next game will be another 6mm American Civil War battle.

20mm Napoleonic Game (turns 1-2)

We decided to begin the game with a round of artillery fire, as the armies were starting deployed quite closely together. Following this we managed to play two full turns, a bit slow as we were struggling to get to grips with the rules (a pretty poor show considering that I had written them). This is what happened:

Murat and D'Hilliers lead the French cavalry forward, whilst to their right the Swedes advance towards the ridge.

Stapleton Cotton brings the light cavalry up beside Ponsonby's Union brigade in response to the French move.

Dave orders Mercer's horse artillery to charge forward, unlimber and fire on the advancing Swedes. They immediately come under fire themselves from the Guard horse artillery, and start to take casualties.

The Swedes are taking casualties too but on they come (for this game they have been classed as third-rate troops). They will soon be at the foot of the hill.

The ridge is only lightly defended by Austrian Jagers supported by one field artillery battery. Dave has chosen to keep his infantry behind the ridge - for now at least!

The Prussian Jagers are busily popping away from the garden of the farm and are hitting Murat's troopers in the flank as they ride past.

And so to the real action - Murat and D'Hilliers charge into the Allied cavalry but Murat does so at considerable personal cost (lucky for him this is just a test game!).

We got to use my new "tactical order markers" for this game - a system we both liked as it does away with paperwork.

Daddy Hill deploys the British Guards in line behind the ridge - what does he have in mind?

Meanwhile Blucher keeps a watchful eye on his Landwehr as they make ready to defend the farm.

This was Dave’s first game using my Muskets & Marshals rules and I was relieved to hear that he thought the basics were sound. We were happy with the firing and melee systems but the cavalry charge/counter charge sequence left us both scratching our heads. We will play another session before formulating any rule amendments as we still haven’t had any proper infantry firing or melees yet or really seen how the morale rules pan out, but then that is the whole point of a play-test!

Napoleonic Play-test

The next game will be a Napoleonic one using the 20mm Hinton Hunt armies. The purpose is to play-test my house rules "Muskets & Marshals" and hopefully give the rules their final tweak.

The armies deployed and ready for battle - Allies on the left, French on the right.

The Swedes are fighting with the French for this one.

The Duke of Wellington with his ADC look on as the Allied cavalry form up.

A view of the French centre - Napoleon is there with Marshal Ney!

The French appear to have formed a grand battery.

Russian grenadiers supported by the Nassau battalion on the Allies extreme right flank.

So that's the entire collection out on the table and ready for action, we hope to play the game in the next week or so.

The Battle of Hawk River - Conclusion

Extract from the Testimony of General Grey at his Court Martial, November 1st, 1777 :"......I deployed our Dragoons and Colonel Winter's Grenadiers to sweep away the Colonials, with the 17th in line in support behind. The 44th made steady progress on our right to outflank the enemy via Parson's Woods. Past experience led me to believe that once the ragged enemy saw our fellows fix bayonets, they would be off like rabbits. Unfortunately, I was so sure of this that it could be said our tactical dispositions were a little hasty, cocksure and er,...clumsy.

 The British Grenadiers come under increasing pressure.

I allowed woodsmen to pour fire into our flank unopposed (routing the Dragoons), and did not extend my firing line. Our ill-trained opponents delivered accurate volleys at an unexpected rate, killing Colonel Winter and some thirty rank and file and forcing a chaotic retreat which blocked the 17th, who could not come up effectively and were also driven back.

As volley after volley are fired...

 ...the Grenadiers begin to fall apart, then go tow, row, rowing to the rear!

The 44th lost Colonel Halkett and retired under pressure from a fresh Continental regiment emerging from Chesterfield supported by yet another swarm of their infernal skirmishers. With regards to this unprecedented humiliation, I can only offer the defence that I was suffering from severe dental pain throughout, resulting in root canal surgery, and my attention was not on the task in hand....."

 The Chesterfield Militia can feel very pleased with themselves.

As you can now guess, the second (and final) session of our Hawk River game continued in much the same vein as the first. Dave continued to press forward with the grenadiers but they came under a heavy and sustained fire from the 6th Pennsylvania and the Chesterfield Militia. This fire eventually caused them to retire leaving several dozen of their number (including Colonel Winter) on the ground.

The 17th Foot come up (even their flag is bending under the hail of fire).

 It's now a hopeless situation for the 17th.

The 17th Foot came forward but they received exactly the same warm reception as the grenadiers, and once again the minutemen took the opportunity to pour a telling fire into their flank. Meanwhile I had advanced the 9th Pennsylvania towards the 44th Foot in front of Parson’s Wood. The playing of a “quick march” option allowed me to close to effective range and get off a volley before the British could reply. This was enough to take their morale level below zero and force them to retire. With all three British units in retreat the game was declared as a “Substantial Victory” for the Americans!

The 9th Pennsylvania advance towards the 44th Foot...

 ...who decide they prefer the safety offered by Parson's Wood.

It certainly was a bit of a drubbing for the British who lost a total of 82 casualties including two Colonels, whilst the Americans lost a mere 22 men, and all units ended the game with good morale. Our initial thoughts after such a dramatic conclusion were that the new rule tweaks, in particular the extra effectiveness of the minutemen, had caused an imbalance in the rules.

General Grey discusses his career options with his staff.

However, on further thought I believe my victory was down largely to over-confidence on the part of General Grey resulting in poor tactical choices. This is borne out by the fact that my Americans delivered 8 full volleys during the course of the game to Dave’s 3 – such a discrepancy was almost bound to end in just this sort of result.

 "Man of the match" award goes to the 6th Pennsylvania.

In mitigation, Dave really had just had root-canal surgery and may not have been on top form, and anyway we both agreed that the British were lacking in skirmishers to take on the minutemen, so I will be painting up some more “light bobs” before the next game.